washtenaw county

Rallies were held across the country today as part of May Day to show support for different groups and causes. One took place at Eastern Michigan University as contract negotiations between part-time lecturers and the university continue.

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WEMU's Jorge Avellan reports on a May Day rally involving part-time lecturers at EMU.

In an effort to improve "immigration instability," the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners will take a first look at a series of resolutions and policies during its Wednesday night meeting April 19th.

Washtenaw County Commissioner Conan Smith was directly involved in the creation of the policies, which, he says, are intended to make sure local communities are secure and stable.

A reward is now being offered for the return of an external computer hard drive stolen from a family in Washtenaw County. Reports say it contained pictures of a five year-old boy who died recently from cancer.

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WEMU's Lisa Barry reports on a reward being offered for a stolen hard drive containing pictures of Chad Carr.

Washtenaw County Public Health / www.ewashtenaw.org/government/departments/public_health/

Recent events in our community, like the Ann Arbor area’s 1,4-dioxane plume, have increased residents’ awareness of – and concern about – the chemicals companies use. While many state and federal regulations may exist that govern chemical storage and manufacturing, these regulations generally do not involve an onsite inspection component. As a result, the programs are enforced on a complaint basis or incident, after the fact. In this week’s "Issues of the Environment," WEMU’s David Fair talks with Kristen Schweighoefer, Environmental Health Director for Washtenaw County Public Health, about 25 years of effort to manage these issues in Washtenaw County.

Four Washtenaw County police agencies are working together this month to increase education, compliance, and knowledge about driving through one of the county's 18 roundabouts.

89.1 WEMU's Lisa Barry spoke with Sergeant William Clock of the Ann Arbor Police Department's Special Services division about the "roundabout enforcement project" underway now through the first of May.

Washtenaw County resident and politician Alma Wheeler-Smith has dedicated most of her life to helping others. She has served the community in many roles: school board member, county commissioner, state representative and state senator. Wheeler-Smith even declared candidacy for governor in 2010, but decided to end the campaign to prevent a split, progressive vote in the Democratic primary. WEMU’s Jorge Avellan made occasion to meet with Alma Wheeler-Smith at the county administration building in Ann Arbor.

A peaceful “Immigrants' March” is planned for Saturday in Ann Arbor. The march and rally will serve as a protest to recent immigration raids and arrests in Washtenaw County by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

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WEMU's Jorge Avellan reports on an immigration march taking place in Ann Arbor.

In the seven days since a windstorm ripped through Southeast and South Central Michigan, it has been a struggle for those without electricity. As of 6am on Tuesday morning, there were still 7,000 DTE Energy customers without heat and light, many in Washtenaw County.

Weber’s Inn, to many, is one of Washtenaw County’s most iconic landmarks. 2017 marks its 80th anniversary. We sent WEMU’s Jorge Avellan to find out how Weber's has made it through eight decades of business and why it’s so special to many people.

There are roughly 48,000 on-site septic systems in Washtenaw County, according to the Washtenaw County Environmental Health Division. State statistics show that at any given time 10% of those systems are leaking and in need of repair. In this week’s "Issues of the Environment," WEMU’s David Fair talks with Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s David Cotton about the growing number of these systems and how to protect our land and waterways.

Yousef Rabhi, representing the 53rd District, is one of three new State House Representatives from Washtenaw County. We sent WEMU’s Jorge Avellan to spend a day with Rabhi and report on the work he’s doing on your behalf in Lansing.

Every parcel slated for development comes with a host of environmental considerations, from stormwater control to cleanup of soil contamination. Two of the considerations most hotly debated in the Ann Arbor area are greenspace and density. In this month’s “Green Room” segment we look at the question, “How does density impact our quality of life, and the health of our environment?”

Residents and city officials are on alert in Ypsilanti. Today, Ypsilanti's expanded human rights ordinance takes effect. Among other things, it offers more protections to undocumented immigrants. Meantime, several residents have reached out to city officials, and WEMU, reporting sightings of federal immigration enforcement officials working in the area. CLICK THROUGH FOR UPDATE: